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Summary: Read it.
Review: Everyone loves this book, and everyone talks about it as THE book. Simple as that. If you haven't read it, you're missing out. If you do end up hating it, as some people do, at least you will know what everyone is talking about. But really, Salinger's voice is outstanding and personal. You're sure to love it.
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Summary: not just for high school students
Review: Exhibit A in the case that some of those books they make you read in school are actually pretty good. Catcher in the Rye, as everyone hopefully knows, is the story of one weekend in the life of Holden Caulfield. Holden has just failed out of another Prep School and, after getting in a fight with his roomate, flees to New York City, where he holes up in a hotel rather than go home to face his parents. As his story unfolds, we learn that he had a beloved younger brother who died of leukemia and Holden has been extremely troubled since then. In one of the more memorable images in literature, Holden explains that he sees himself as "The Catcher in the Rye" (he has misremembered a Robert Burns lyric as "if a body catch a body coming through the rye"). He imagines a flock of little kids running through a field of rye along a cliff precipice and he is poised at the edge trying to catch them before they fall. But Holden isn't just troubled by the Mortality of others, as one character tells him, he is spiritually troubled by the morality of others. He rages against all of the "phonies" and "mean people" he meets. What could make a young man feel more ineffectual and helpless than taking responsibilty for the mortality & morality of the whole human race? This story of a young man coming of age, trying to understand the human failings of those around him, is one of the great works of Literature & should rank much higher on the Modern Library list. GRADE: A+
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Summary: Humorous and Insightful
Review: Extremely humorous.I often found myself laughing out loud while reading the book,and extremely insightful The lead character makes some very insightful observations about the shallowness of adolecent social life I loved it and couldnt put it down A book anyone anyone who has experienced a difficult adolescense can relate to-even looking back ten years after my teens have passed And whats more-its hard to believe this book was written 50 years ago
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Summary: One of America's Great Books
Review: Failing out of high school, teen-intellectual Holden heads for New York in the early 1950s with nothing to do, no plans, and a red hat. In New York, Holden runs into the 1950s jazz scene, prostitutes, homosexuals, and ample opportunities to drink himself to oblivion. Told from a first person viewpoint, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE depicts a young man's painful journey toward a coming of age. I won't try to deconstruct the symbolism in this novel. Perhaps Holden's red hat refers to his attempts to lose his virginity and his expensive lugage is a Freudian symbol for the female. Perhaps his name indicates the need to hold onto something (certainly his dream of becoming the 'Catcher' does. Certainly sex and death underlay the entire novel. Holden attempts to confront his sexuality by picking up older women, flirting with nuns, dating a school-girl contemporary, and watching his young sister sleep. At the same time, he seems fascinated by homosexuality and fights off a homosexual encounter with an older man. Anyone who has survived the teen years will identify with Holden's concern that he be cool even if it means not being able to enjoy music, the movies, or the company of the women he spends time with. His introspections on his brother's death are moving and further justify Holden's alienation from society. CATCHER IN THE RYE is a modern literary classic. As such, it is not always a lot of fun to read, but provides insights into the human psyche. Not a bad tradeoff.
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Summary: one of my all-time favorite books, have read it 3 times.
Review: Far and away, Salinger's best book, about a boy who goes to New York City and has many eccentric adventures. I often read this book when I need a good laugh.
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Summary: Fun for the kids
Review: Fart jokes, and everybody's a phony. If you don't love this book when you're 14, there's something wrong with you. If you still love it when you're 25, there's something very seriously wrong with you.
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Summary: Fifty Years After
Review: Fifty years after it was first published and thirty (something) years after I first readThe Catcher in The Rye, I decided to reread it to see if it had the same impact as the first time. Holden Caufield's lost weekend in New York seemed so risque and daring when I read it as a teenager. I was most impressed with the language he used and wished that I could be as fast and loose with my language. Thirty years later does add some perspective and in view of language use today, The Catcher in the Rye seems awfully mild. Holden is obviously an imperfect and confused hero in search of finding his way in the adult world which he both covets and despises. He is not well equipped for this quest, frequently failing to communicate is desires and feelings to the world around him. Caufield's pathetic attempts to communicate and involve himself with others leads him into further isolation. Holden Caufield, the teenager created by J.D. Salinger is a strangely vulnerable young man at odds with the phonies of the earth. After being expelled from one more prep school Caufield gathers his resources and spends a weekend in New York City before planning to return home. Caufield is an amusing and obsessive youth who has an opinion about everything. Holden a disorganized and directionless dweeb is true to his own values and morals. He is loyal to those he loves and cares for his sister Phoebe and friend Jane, while despising those who do not live up to his standards. If you have not read this book it is high time to give it a try.
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Summary: My absolute personal favorite!
Review: Filled with teen angst, melodrama, humor, seriousness, bitterness, psychotic and not-so-psychotic behavior, and psychoanalysis, _Catcher in the Rye_ is a must-read for any serious book-lover. While I have noticed that some people hate this book, I have to wonder whether or not they're getting the real message. The real message isn't that the world is full of phonies, that Holden is a psychopath, that procrastination is evil, or that teenagers use a whole lot of dirty words-- take a good look at the title instead of picking at the "foul" language, and you'll be in for a real treat. Salinger took a very different approach with this novel than the typical formula of most tales, which makes it refreshing and much more interesting than modern bestsellers. Open your mind and allow yourself to get inside Holden's twisted psyche, and it will be your favorite too! Also recommended are _Franny and Zooey_ and _Nine Stories_.
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Summary: That's all true, but...
Review: Finally I've read this book and I've come to the conclusion I should've done that years ago. Holden Caulfield would have been my personal guide through puberty. You can read all the important stuff about how well written, how modern, how provocative, how funny this book is in the reviews above mine. And that's all true but... I think: the really important stuff about this book is that it holds a dark secret. And it's this secret that has brought this book up to the level it's on nowadays. It lies in the very beautiful, tender, recognizable, intelligent way Salinger makes you look into this boy's head. Salinger makes you weep about this boy and because Holden in a way stands for all intelligent boys alive, he makes you weep about yourself. And that's the most important thing a book van make you do. Holden Caulfield is the King and Phoebe is great too.
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Summary: Read it again and again
Review: First of all, I agree with that one guy who said that the readers who try to assume Holden's identity are missing the point. I also think that by saying Holden is a typical American teenager, you are overlooking a few things- for one, his emotions may be typical, but his environment and his affluence are certainly not. He speaks for the American teenager, but he is definitely not the typical American teenager. Remember- Holden is telling his story from a psychiatric hospital. Salinger made Holden an extreme. His actions were extreme, his words were extreme... he did not wear a mask... he was an effusive, uninhibited bundle of emotion, of ambivalence. I think that nearly every teenager feels the same as Holden does. We all, at times, wish to be saved from the adult world- while at the same time, we think that we deserve to be treated like adults. When I read it the first time, I was Holden's age- 16. I saw Holden as a genius. I thought that he spoke truth with every word. Now, I am 18.. even in those two years I have developed a new perspective on Holden and his "genius." When I was 16, I didn't see Holden's immaturity- I saw his actions as brave and noble. After reading it again yesterday, I was able to really see his fear of growing up and his fear of the inevitable. I saw it when I was 16 in myself; I guess I just recognized it as something else. I think I am rambling. I guess that my point is- read it when you are Holden's age- absorb the 16 year old world as much as you can.. then allow yourself a while, and read it again.. because I appreciated it this time in an entirely different way.
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